In the medical field, cylinders, tubes and catheters are routinely used to interface different parts of a patient's body, such as for infusion and drainage therapies. For example, intravenous (I.V.) treatment, Foley catheters, nasal gastric treatment, wound suction or drainage, evacuators tubing, gravity drains, urinary tubes, etc. Infusion and drainage therapies are often cumbersome and uncomfortable to the patient as it requires the connection and support of tubes and/or catheters to the patient. Discomfort to a patient increases if the tube and/or catheter is not securely attached to the patient in an accurate position. Furthermore, a twisted or tangled tube and/or catheter may detrimentally affect the flow of the treatment or drainage. In many instances, the positioning, stability and secured retainment of the tubes and/or catheters is crucial to the outcome of the treatment, and certainly to the comfort of the patient on which it is used.
A twisted or insecurely retained tube and/or catheter can lead to many complications and cause discomfort to the patient, such as decreasing the flow of treatment or drainage or accidentally withdrawing it from the patient's body, which disrupts the treatment. Even in cases where the insecurely retained tube and/or catheter is not completely removed from the body, needless interference with the positioning and shape of the tube and/or catheter can cause problems to the patient. For example, a twisted tube may cut off the natural flow of the treatment or drainage. An unexpected, inadvertent movement of an I.V. tube can cause the needle to damage the wall of the vein or blood vessel. For nasal gastric treatment, constant accurate positioning of the tube in the nostril and through the nasal passage is critical. An improperly positioned tube can cause the tube to either adhere to the stomach walls and cause the stomach lining to bleed or cause erosion through the nasal septum and, in extreme cases create a hole in the nasal septum.
The traditional method of securing tubes and/or catheters to a patient and maintaining their forms is the use of adhesive tapes such as surgical tape or bandage. Adhesive tapes cannot securely retain tubes and/or catheters for accurate positioning due to the thinness and pliability of the tapes. The tube and/or catheters may be accidentally twisted or removed from the patient from the patient's own movement. Secure retainment is compromised if the adhesive power of non-surgical grade tape is traded off for breathability of the skin of surgical tape for minimal irritation. Stability of the tube and/or catheter is further compromised by having the tube and/or catheter rests directly against the flexible, compressible and movable skin of a patient.
During the course of an infusion or drainage treatment, which can last for several weeks to several months, it is often necessary to adjust the positioning of the tube and/or catheter during use. The traditional use of adhesive tape to secure a tube and/or catheter does not provide an easy method of adjustment of the tube and/or catheter. To adjust these normally requires the removal and replacement of the adhesive tape after repositioning the tube and/or catheter because the adhesive power of the tape decreases substantially from the oily excretions from the patient's skin. Over a period of time, such removal and replacement of the tape causes discomfort to the patient, such as sensitive skin, irritation and pain.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that comfortably, quickly and securely retains and stabilizes tubes and/or catheters applied to a patient and maintains their forms yet facilitates easy repositioning and readjustment of the tubes and/or catheters, with little discomfort to the patient.